Tax morale, Occupation and Income Level: An Analysis of Portuguese Taxpayers

C. Sá, A. Martins, and C. Gomes

Abstract—Tax morale is recognized as one of the most
important variables to understand the levels of compliance
obtained in most countries. This paper analyzes the impact of
occupational status, income level, behavioral, political and
psychological factors on tax morale level of Portuguese
taxpayers. A sample of 1,514 Portuguese individuals was
obtained from the European Values Study (EVS) developed in
2008. A factor analysis was used to extract the underlying
dimensions of tax morale. Multiple regression analysis was used
to explore the relationship between the dimensions revealed by
factor analysis, occupational status, income level, and tax
morale. The findings suggest that occupational status, income,
political democratic system, individual satisfaction, trust in
others, and individual´s identification with Portugal have a
strong significantly effect on tax morale.

Index Terms—Portugal, tax morale, tax compliance.

C. Sá is with the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology
and Management, Campus 2, Morro do Lena - Alto do Vieiro, 2411-901
Leiria, Portugal (e-mail: cristina.sa@ ipleiria.pt).
A. Martins is with the University of Coimbra, School of Economics, Av.
Dias da Silva, 165, 3004-512 Coimbra, Portugal (e-mail: amartins@fe.uc.pt).
C. Gomes is with the University of Coimbra, School of Economics, Av.
Dias da Silva, 165, 3004-512 Coimbra, Portugal and with ISR, Operations
Management Group, Pinhal de Marrocos - Polo II, 3030 Coimbra, Portugal
(e-mail: cfgomes@fe.uc.pt).